John Deere expands the availability of its “See & Spray Premium” on model-year 2025 Hagie STS sprayers. Already available as a precision upgrade on select John Deere sprayers, See & Spray Premium is an AI-powered weed-sensing system that activates individual spray nozzles when target weeds are “seen” by boom mounted cameras.
“The availability of See & Spray Premium on Hagie STS sprayers means that more farmers and more custom applicators will have access to a powerful tool for maximizing cost-efficiency and in-field productivity,” said Tim Deinert, John Deere go-to-market manager for application equipment.
With See & Spray Premium, farmers and custom applicators have the ability to pay for the technology when they need it, making their investment directly connected to their operational needs. This approach offers a customizable solution for operations of any type. Additionally, through improved data and farmer feedback, John Deere can enhance the technology through software updates and ultimately provide operational efficiencies as well as incremental value over the lifetime of the equipment.
Reduce post-herbicide use by more than 50%
See & Spray Premium uses a system of boom-mounted cameras to scan over 2,100 square feet of crop per second as the sprayer is in motion. On-board processors then determine whether an individual plant is crop or weed. Those processors send commands to individual ExactApply nozzles, which deliver a precise dose of herbicide only where the weed is recognized.
“Used in conjunction with a good residual herbicide, the ability to selectively spray only targeted weeds – without spraying an entire field – can potentially reduce postemergence herbicide use by more than 50%,” Deinert said. “At the same time, we’re reducing the number of water stops and lowering crop stress, all while increasing efficiency, profitability, and delivering cleaner fields with better yields. But as revolutionary as See & Spray Premium has been, its greatest value may be in the level of documentation it enables.”
In combination with John Deere Operations Center™, the system collects data from each application, showing precisely where spray solution was applied as well as the volume of chemical saved.
“After spraying, application data is sent to John Deere Operations Center,” Deinert said. “From there, farmers and their advisors, including agronomists and crop consultants, can view layered maps showing where individual inputs were applied, and the chemical savings compared with a broadcast application. See & Spray Premium not only saves on input costs, but paired with the John Deere Operations Center, it also shows the receipts.”
Improving operator experience
In addition to See & Spray Premium, model-year 2025 Hagie STS sprayers will be available with the John Deere G5PLUS display and Integrated StarFire 7500 receiver, enabling the use of the most advanced John Deere guidance, documentation and automation products while offering a larger, faster, higher-definition operator interface.
“Taken together, the G5PLUS display and Integrated StarFire 7500 receiver can help save farmers and applicators real time,” Deinert said. “The faster processor in the display can import and export large guidance files in half the time of previous displays, and provides faster boot times, while the Integrated StarFire 7500 receiver with optional SF-RTK offers greater accuracy and repeatability, so boundaries and lines don’t shift from season to season.”
“Since the first self-propelled sprayers came to market nearly 80 years ago, this is where spray technology has been headed,” Deinert concludes.
